Dear Folks, Even though you're not anxiously awaiting to hear of an update of my veterans project, I just have to share with someone what I accomplished today. I spent 2 hours and 40 minutes today printing out more Personal Veterans Pages. During that time I printed out about 333 pages and just about filled up a new two-inch three ring binder to its limit. But as they printed out I had to give attention to detail regarding their being filed alphabetically and checking each one over for errors. As I checked each one over, I again was overwhelmed by the information they contained. There were those who were there on D Day and participated in the invasion of Normandy, there were many of those who had been awarded the Purple Heart and there were some particular ones who were held Prisoners of War during WWII. The information regarding the Vietnam War veterans is chilling if you check out the history of where they were stationed at the time. What those personal pages said and didn't say is that there are soooooo many more stories that could be told. I can only hope that my project might bring out such important stories in the future. In fact in my wildest dreams I hope that some veteran takes exception to the scant information I've recorded about his military history and fires off a letter to me along the lines of "You don't have even a CLUE what I went through during the war" and then goes on to tell me of his experiences during whatever war he served in. I would love to receive such a letter because it's rare that a veteran will even talk about his experiences no matter what war he served in. With that said, I know that I'll continue to plod along with printing out of the Veterans Personal Pages and be content enough with the overall results. I'll let the chips fall where they may. vee

Dear Folks, Speaking of Spring, according to my calendar Spring arrived yesterday. But in this morning's local newspaper, there was no mention of it which was quite unusual. Maybe it was because we still have snow on the ground, today's temperature didn't go above 30 degrees and we had a brisk wind blowing that froze our hineys off here in Western New York. Not only that but this past week we had a "bit" of a snow storm that closed schools all over Niagara and Erie counties and just about all evening public activities were cancelled because of it. In addition, the annual VERY short St. Patrick's Day parade is now being held in a local shopping mall because it generally snows on that day. But all of that is beside the point. We all know that it's officially Spring and therefore we can put winter back into the past. We may have a bit more snow flurries to come but we can certainly handle that. The most important aspect of this particular early Spring season is that when I go outside to pick up my newspaper and mail I can now hear sweet songs of the birds who have returned or who are migrating through here on their way further up north again. And on very good authority it's been reported to me that the Canada Geese have returned here for a rest period on their trip back into northern Canada and have settled into our Niagara County Alabama Swamp Nature Preserve for a breather. When I looked up at my silver maple tree this morning I could see tiny buds on it that forecast green leaves to come and I know that within a few weeks I'll hear the "peep, peep" of the frogs out in the back 40 singing their hearts out. Now that's what I call "hope springs eternal." vee

Dear Group: Vee's message reminded me that spring is truely here. Here in Nebraska, we had a taste of summer. We hit 86 degrees on Friday, a new record. In fact, we made it on the Weather Channel. The sandhills cranes are making their comeback on their way north. They stop along the river to nest before they head north. You can always tell the difference between a sandhills crane and a Canadian goose, their calls are very distinct from each other. We're also heading into fire season which has started early due to a four year drought. You all complain about how much snow you've gotten, boy, we sure would love to have some of it!! A couple of weeks ago, grass fires struck pretty close to home, and I was one of the few people who captured the fire on camera. We live not too far away from a Nebraska State Park, Buffalo Bill's Ranch. There is a campground at the park near the North Platte River, and two transients were seen walking from the area when the fire started. It took two days to get the fire under control and thank goodness no one was hurt. It was pretty scarey since we could see the smoke from the fire outside our window, I'm just glad the fire didn't get any closer to us than it did! Kim

Vee, I'm with you all the way. I still have to print out the Luther Wheeler letters, I finally got them all transcribed. I am also photocopying them so people can see the original writing without having to handle the somewhat fragile letters. The paper is in remarkably good condition and the ink is not faded at all but the paper is cut where it folded on itself for 140 years so I don't think handling them would help much. I have no idea how many pages I'll have but quite a few. Ruth At 12:49 AM -0500 3/21/04, Vee L. Housman wrote: >Tonight I finally got my engines fired up and got everything set up. For >the first hour it was trial and error but after that it went rather >smoothly. After a total of three hours I finally managed to print out the >pages from Adams, John, who served in the Civil War to Dumond, Sinai, who >served in WWII. So from A to D I've already filled up a 1" >three-ring-notebook. Obviously I'm going to have to scrounge around for >larger notebooks. > >I just counted the number of pages I printed out in the past three hours and >they total about 280. Therefore only about 800 more to go. But with my >dedication I know I'll see the project through. Because if I don't, nobody >else will. And I can't let that happen. > >vee -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Regarding my Town of Porter's Veteran Project I beieve I told you that I had provided the Town Hall, the Village of Youngstown Clerk's Office and the Town of Porter Historical society with CDs containing all the information I had gathered on our our local veterans which so far now total 1,077 veterans. There are two folders on the CD's. One is a database showing the individuals and basic information about their service. To print out the entire list is only 30 pages and therefore they all have a handy reference as to the names and which wars they served in. However, the other folder is one that I've labeled Porter Veteran Personal Page and the folder contains 1,077 separate word processing documents. Each document spells out more information about the individuals such as what theatre of war they served in, what unit or ship they served on (and where) and what medals they were awarded. And to print out that many documents would take hours, days and weeks in my estimation. Well there was no doubt in my mind that neither the Town Hall nor the Village Clerk's office could spare one person to spend that amount of time. By the same token, I know that up at our Historical Society museum we don't have a large enough volunteer force to even attempt it. Therefore, if "someone" doesn't print out those pages, they would only be stored in somebody's computer and the public wouldn't be free to browse through them. And I couldn't let that happen. The information contained in those pages is even more important than just a listing of the veterans. So I bit the bullet and volunteered to print them out myself. But there was one condition I insisted on. First off, my printing them out would be for the Historical Society and therefore I expected them to pay for a new ink cartridge for my printer (I have no idea how many pages one cartridge can print out), and to provide me with two reams of three-hole-punched paper for printout. After a BIG hassle, the society finally agreed and issued me a check to pay for the supplies at OfficeMax. Tonight I finally got my engines fired up and got everything set up. For the first hour it was trial and error but after that it went rather smoothly. After a total of three hours I finally managed to print out the pages from Adams, John, who served in the Civil War to Dumond, Sinai, who served in WWII. So from A to D I've already filled up a 1" three-ring-notebook. Obviously I'm going to have to scrounge around for larger notebooks. I just counted the number of pages I printed out in the past three hours and they total about 280. Therefore only about 800 more to go. But with my dedication I know I'll see the project through. Because if I don't, nobody else will. And I can't let that happen. vee

Thanks Vee for posting the DeWitt Clinton Journal. It was most interesting reading. Also, I am glad that you included the source. There are several other interesting articles on that site. Barbara Moll

The following statement was furnished to me by Judge Porter; The price of transporting a barrel of salt from Oswego to Lewiston is five shillings, payable in salt at Oswego, at twenty-four shillings per barrel. >From Lewiston to Black Rock, six shillings per barrel, payable in salt at Black Rock, at forty-eight shillings per barrel. >From Presque Isle to Pittsburgh, fourteen shillings, payable in salt at Presque Isle, at fifty-four shillings per barrel. The following are the cash prices of salt at the above places: At Oswego $2.50; Lewiston, $3.50; Black Rock, $4.50; Presquille, $5.50, per barrel. Seneca grass grows near Buffalo Creek, and is sold by the Indians in small bunches. It is fragrant, and useful as the bean in perfuming segars. The Commissioners gave the name of Grand Niagara to the village where Judge Porter resides. Grand is prefixed, to distinguish it from British Niagara, and the American fort, and on account of its vicinity to the Falls. We visited the Adams, a brig of 150 tons and four guns, belonging to the United States, commanded by Commodore Brevoort, who appears to be a worthy officer. This is the only vessel we have on the lakes, and she is employed in transporting military stores. She can make a voyage to Fort Dearborn, upwards of 1000 miles, on lake Michigan, and return, in two months. The British have two armed vessels on this lake, one pierced for sixteen, and the other for twelve guns, and a fort to the south-west of Black Rock, called Fort Erie, and garrisoned by a Lieutenant and twenty men. Commodore Brevoort says vessels drawing seven feet water, can at some seasons go from Fort Dearborn or Chaquagy, (Chicago) up a creek of that name, and to the Illinois River, whose waters in freshets meet, and so down the Mississippi; he thinks he can effect it in his brig, which draws but six feet when lightened. A brig of 150 tons, sailing from Black Rock to Hudson, would seem incredible. On a commanding eminence at Black Rock, Gen. Wilkinson has designated a proper site for a fort. Black Rock was crowded to-day with people from all quarters; it looked like an assembly for divine services. We saw Erastus Granger, Le Latteaux, a French gentleman, Andross, and others, and dined at Miller's tavern, whose sign is surmounted with masonic emblems. Here we left Mr. Geddes to commence his surveys, and parted from Col. Porter with a great regret, who, on every occasion, exhibited himself in an amiable and respectable manner, and whose countenance brightened with a benignant smile, whenever he could contribute to our comfort or pleasure. We left the young gentlemen here, to follow, and after dinner proceeded, with our two carriages, three servants, and baggage-wagon, eight miles, to Ransom's tavern, in the town of Buffalo, where we lodged, and which is a bad house. Three miles from Black Rock, there is a manufactory of red earthen ware. The country is well cultivated and settled. (The End) (The above was published in the March 2004 edition of "Fortress Niagara," the Newsletter-Journal of the Old Fort Niagara Association, editor Harry M. DeBan, pgs. 9-14. Permission to post it has been granted. To view the entire journal on line go to http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/campbell/Chap06.html. )

That was quite an education, Vee. Thanks for the link -- and the many this article offers as well. Smiles, Anna ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 3:01 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] DeWitt Clinton's Journal, Pt. 6 > Dear Raymond, > > Regarding the importance of salt trading, go to > http://www.saltinstitute.org/38.html and it will tell you the entire > history. I found it quite fascinating and educational. I believe you'll > find that New York state was especially important in salt production. > > vee > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 10:04 PM > Subject: Re: [FOLKS] DeWitt Clinton's Journal, Pt. 6 > > > > It's very enlightening to read DeWitt Clinton's journal again (I had read > > parts of it a few years ago.) > > > > I now know, after a couple of years of research, that my 3rd great > > grandfather Isaac Woolson followed basically the same route through > > Niagara County in September 1810, just a month or so after Clinton: along > > the Ridge to Lewiston, up the river to Buffalo, then back to Lewiston to > > settle on the Ridge just below the Tuscarora Indian village. > > > > The journal paints a very clear picture of the Niagara frontier at the > > time. I would like to learn more about why the shipping of salt played > > such a large role in the trade of the area. > > > > --- Raymond Scott Woolson > > A few miles North of Clinton's Ditch. > > > > > > >

Dear Raymond, Regarding the importance of salt trading, go to http://www.saltinstitute.org/38.html and it will tell you the entire history. I found it quite fascinating and educational. I believe you'll find that New York state was especially important in salt production. vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 10:04 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] DeWitt Clinton's Journal, Pt. 6 > It's very enlightening to read DeWitt Clinton's journal again (I had read > parts of it a few years ago.) > > I now know, after a couple of years of research, that my 3rd great > grandfather Isaac Woolson followed basically the same route through > Niagara County in September 1810, just a month or so after Clinton: along > the Ridge to Lewiston, up the river to Buffalo, then back to Lewiston to > settle on the Ridge just below the Tuscarora Indian village. > > The journal paints a very clear picture of the Niagara frontier at the > time. I would like to learn more about why the shipping of salt played > such a large role in the trade of the area. > > --- Raymond Scott Woolson > A few miles North of Clinton's Ditch. > >

It's very enlightening to read DeWitt Clinton's journal again (I had read parts of it a few years ago.) I now know, after a couple of years of research, that my 3rd great grandfather Isaac Woolson followed basically the same route through Niagara County in September 1810, just a month or so after Clinton: along the Ridge to Lewiston, up the river to Buffalo, then back to Lewiston to settle on the Ridge just below the Tuscarora Indian village. The journal paints a very clear picture of the Niagara frontier at the time. I would like to learn more about why the shipping of salt played such a large role in the trade of the area. --- Raymond Scott Woolson A few miles North of Clinton's Ditch.

DE WITT CLINTON. HIS PRIVATE CANAL JOURNAL - 18 10. Part 3. [August 4th] . . . . We arrived in the evening at Buffalo, or New Amsterdam, and put up at Landon's tavern, where we were indifferently accommodated in every respect. The young gentlemen had preceded us, and enjoyed the best accommodations. August 5th, Sunday. Buffalo village contains from thirty to forty houses, the court-house of Niagara County, built by the Holland Land Company, several stores and taverns, and a Post office. It is place of great resort. All persons that travel to the Western States and Ohio, from the Eastern States, and all that visit the Falls of Niagara, come this way. A half-acre lot sells from $100 to $250. Buffalo Creek runs in from the East, between the village and the lake. It is a deep stream, about ten rods wide, and has a large bar at its mouth. It is navigable about five miles. Large oil stones are found at the Indian saw mill, twelve miles up the Buffalo Creek, strongly impregnated with Seneca oil; also large petrified clam shells, on the eighteen mile creek. There are five lawyers and no church in this village. The great desideratum in the land of the Holland Company, is the want of water. We saw on the ridge several dry mills. Windmills must be used for grain. The population of their lands doubled in a year. The chief seat of the Seneca's is about four miles from Buffalo. Lake Erie abounds with excellent and various fish: 1. White Fish. -The head and mouth exactly like our shad, and so is the fish generally. It is superior in flavor. 2. Herring. - Thicker through the body, and nearly the same length as those on the sea-coast. Much like the Nova Scotia herring. 3. Sheep's Head. - Like ours, but no teeth; a hard, dry fish. 4. Black or Oswego Bass. - Like our black fish. Bass is a Dutch word, and signifies perch. 5. Rock Bass. - Like our sea bass. 6. White Bass. - In shape like our white perch, but rather longer. The tall resembles that of the streaked bass, and it has stripes on its sides. 7. Sturgeon, - is the largest fish in the lake. They have no dorsal fin, and are not so large as those in the Hudson. In respect to shape they are rather similar, and have the same habit of vaulting. At the time the French possessed Niagara, the commander of that fort took four live sturgeon from Ontario Lake, and put them in lake Erie. Lake Erie before had none; now it and all the upper lakes have plenty of them. This was told Mr. Wigton by the captain of a sloop that sails on [L]ake Erie. 8. Sunfish. 9. Muscalunga, or pickerel; a fine fish. 10. Pike. 11. Very large snapping turtle. No shad go up the Mississippi. Now and then a meagre herring is caught at Pittsburgh, which has struggled 2,200 miles against a strong current. The streaked bass or rock fish go above Albany after the sturgeon's spawn, and subsist principally on it. The superior flavor and excellence of Atlantic sheeps-head may be owing to its delicious food of clams and muscles, on the coast. The sturgeon of the lake have no scales. At the Niagara Falls, eels have ascended the rocks forty or fifty feet, but cannot get up, and are not to be found above, or in lake Erie. Eels have communication with the sea, and perhaps generate there. In a pond above the Passaic Falls, no eels have been seen until within a few years, and they have found a communication round the Falls. In the fall, eel-weirs are placed with their mouths up against the current, and in the spring the reverse. In the fall they go to the sea, and in the spring return. The only small fish in lake Erie, are the muscle and cray fish. Dr. Mitchell's notice, that sea-fish, such as sturgeon, are shut by the falls from the ocean, and have become naturalized to fresh water, is ridiculous; 1. They can escape by vaulting over the falls. 2. By the Illinois in the spring, down the Mississippi. 3. The above story explains how they came into the lake. We rode on the beach of the lake, from Buffalo to Black Rock. There is an upper and a lower landing here, about a mile apart. At the latter is the village, the ground of which belongs to the State; and it has been laid out in lots, which have not been as yet sold. A ferry and tavern are kept at the upper landing, by F. Miller, and a store by Porter, Barton & Co. Bird Island is a mile above the upper landing; the channel runs on each side of it; it derives its name from the number of birds which formerly crowded on it. It is nothing but a collection of large calcarious and silicious rocks. A store built on it by Porter, Barton & Co., was swept off by the ice. A block has been sunk here by them, on the North side of the island, (by which it is protected from the ice), to receive and lade vessels, and it will answer for any burthen. It cost $2,000. Vessels can come up the Rapids to it, with 100 barrels of salt, but have to leave the remainder of their lading for another trip. A vessel with salt can push up against the current, from Fort Schlosser to Black Rock, twenty miles, in one day. To remedy the communication here, it is proposed to cut a canal round the Rapids, from Bird Island to the lower landing. Mr. Geddes says that the Rapid in one place here is six and three quarters miles an hour, as tested by actual observation. In one place it is five miles; and the boatmen say in one place seven miles, and that the general current is three miles per hour. Lake Erie is four feet seven inches above the level of Niagara River, below these rapids. (The above was published in the March 2004 edition of "Fortress Niagara," the Newsletter-Journal of the Old Fort Niagara Association, editor Harry M. DeBan, pgs. 9-14. Permission to post it has been granted. To view the entire journal on line go to http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/campbell/Chap06.html. )

Ruth: Thank you so much for your good wishes! Whenever you go through something like this, it makes you realize how short life really is, I think perhaps that's why I've been pushing on preserving my family history! Have a great day, Kim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ruth Barton" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 9:42 AM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Good news > Kim, That is, indeed, good news. I share your joy that you'll be around > and healthy for some time to come. Ruth

Kim, That is, indeed, good news. I share your joy that you'll be around and healthy for some time to come. Ruth At 2:44 PM -0600 3/18/04, Kim & Mike Paul wrote: >Dear Group: > >Today I received the best news yet, I went and had my weekly cancer >checkup, and the Dr. said I am completely healed from the surgery! I only >have to go in one more time and that is it! I couldn't believe my ears, >we've been waiting for this moment for ages it seems! I'm completely >giddy at this point! > >Kim -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Jo: Thank you Jo, it's been the best news I've had in a long time!! Thanks for the hug, and you get one back from me;-) Kim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Josephine Grieve" <[email protected]> To: "Kim & Mike Paul" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 10:47 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Good news > Hip Hip Hooray! That is really GOOD news Kim. Here's a big hug for you > > Jo from Michigan >

Vee, Thanks to you I now can access my attachments. I had the same problem with Outlook Express 6. Didn't know how to fix it until your e-mail came along. Also gives me a chance to thank you for putting Dewitt Clinton's journal on line. I wish I had had it when I gave a program for our genealogical society last spring on Migration Patterns from New England and New York to Michigan. Part of my report focused on the Erie Canal. D Clinton's Journal would have fleshed it out a bit. How interesting it is to read it and to realize that my ancestors settled in Genesee County in 1805. And also to know that other relatives travelled the Erie Canal in 1825. Oh this genealogy - how I love it!! Thanks again for the computer "cure" and the fascinating journal. Jo in Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 11:36 AM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Something goofy is going on > Dear Folks, > > I received the following response to the queston: > > When you install OE 6.0 it has a default setting to make attachments > inaccessible. To change that setting go to: TOOLS > OPTIONS > SECURITY and > uncheck the box about removing attachments. Then all the attachments will > be accessible. > > And guess what! IT WORKED!! > > vee > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:20 AM > Subject: [FOLKS] Something goofy is going on > > > > Dear Folks, > > > > Over the past several days personal friends of mine have sent me messages > > with attachements added to them. But the only reason that I knew that > there > > had been an attachment was the notification in the email message ABOVE the > > "From: "Jane Doe" email address was that it said, "OE [outlook express?] > > removed access to the following unsafe attachments in your mail." and then > > it gives the subject of the attachment. > > > > Although I've tried to click on the notification to see where it came from > > or what the problem was, nothing, and I'm still in the dark. Does anyone > > have a clue? > > > > vee > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

The cold Friday of last winter was experienced all over the country, and at Fort Niagara with extreme severity. We saw wine and jelly glasses here, of excellent quality, which were manufactured at Pittsburgh. The common window-glass used here is also brought from that place; and also lead, from the mines on the Missouri, which cost at Pittsburgh eight dollars per hundred pounds, and in this place nine dollars and a quarter. Lake Ontario never freezes over, although Lake Erie does. The former is generally much deeper, although in some places the latter is sixty fathoms deep. Lake Erie is 230 miles long and sixty wide; Lake Superior is 300 miles long. Michigan 300; Huron 200. Ontario 180. The smallest of these lakes is larger than the Caspian sea. August 4th, Saturday. After breakfast we set out from Fort Schlosser, in a Durham salt boat, drawing two feet water, twenty-five tons burthen, and able to carry 150 bushels of salt, between seventy and eighty feet long, and seven and eight feet wide. She had six men, who pushed her up against the stream. But notwithstanding she had been lightened for our accommodation, our situation was unpleasant. The weather was uncommonly warm, and the captain being absent, the hands were very noisy, intemperate, and disorganizing. The current was sometimes three miles an hour - on an average, two and a-half. Navy Island is in view of Fort Schlosser, and is supposed to be within the British dominions, although this is not certain. It contains 300 acres, and has one squatter. Grand Island is in our jurisdiction, and contains 23,000 acres. The Indian right is not extinguished, and the Indians will not tolerate an[y] intrusions or trespassers on it. It is full of deer, owing to the absence of wolves and settlers. It is about twelve miles long, and its greatest breadth is six miles. At the foot of this island there are the remains of two French vessels, which were formerly burnt, on account of their not being able to escape. The jurisdictional line between Great Britain and the United States ought to have run through the center of the channels of the lakes and rivers, instead of the center of the waters, in order to have effectually secured equal advantages of navigation to both nations. Gill Creek enters the river on the left bank, about half a mile above Fort Schlosser, and is considered as the probable place for the commencement of a canal. It has a good bay and landing, is deep, and about twenty yards wide. Cayuga Creek enters the river on the same side, about three miles higher up. Tonnewanta Island contains ninety acres, and is ten miles from Fort Schlosser, It commences at the mouth of the creek of that name. Ellicott's creek enters Tonnewanta Creek, about 300 yards above its mouth, and just above a bridge erected by General Wilkinson. There is a Rapid seven miles from the mouth of Tonnewanta, and falls about thirty. To the Rapids you may ascend in a canoe. Sturgeon weighing eighty-two pounds have been speared at the Rapids, where there are several good mill seats. The country above them is a wilderness. The Tonnewanta Reservation is twenty-four miles from the river, on this creek. The creek has no bar at its mouth. This information I received from one of our boatmen. We took a cold dinner on board. Despairing of reaching Black Rock with our disorderly fellows, we landed at a tavern about a mile above Tonnewanta Creek, and took to our carriages. The disorderly spirit of our boatmen had extended itself to the driver, and I had to silence his importance. In a short time we passed a considerable stream; the road was bad, but the country pleasant. The meadows on the river were fine, and the land improved on both sides, after you pass the upper end of Grand Island. One Dayton, who keeps a tavern four miles from Black Rock, purchased two years ago eighty acres, at four dollars per acre. I saw a fish-hawk flying with a very large fish in his talons, and a strange bird with a large head, his body speckled, and wings appeared touched with red when he flew. He was not quite the size of a blue-bird. At Black Rock we saw a great number of barrels of salt, and several square-rigged vessels, and had a beautiful view of Lake Erie . . . . (The above was published in the March 2004 edition of "Fortress Niagara," the Newsletter-Journal of the Old Fort Niagara Association, editor Harry M. DeBan, pgs. 9-14. Permission to post it has been granted. To view the entire journal on line go to http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/campbell/Chap06.html.

Kim said, > Today I received the best news yet, I went and had my weekly cancer checkup, and the Dr. said I am completely healed from the surgery! I only have to go in one more time and that is it! I couldn't believe my ears, we've been waiting for this moment for ages it seems! I'm completely giddy at this point! Kim, I know exactly how you feel right now. I was scared to death after my breast cancer surgery in 2000, not knowing if they removed all of the cancer. The most thrilling four words I ever heard were "You're free of cancer!" I cried and cried and cried in relief. Welcome to those of us who have been so fortunate to hear those words. vee

Vee: We cancer survivors are an elite group of people. If we can get through cancer, we can get through anything, I feel. The words to Gloria Gaynor's song, "I Will Survive", comes to mind. Thank you for the welcome to the cancer free group! Kim

Dear Group: Today I received the best news yet, I went and had my weekly cancer checkup, and the Dr. said I am completely healed from the surgery! I only have to go in one more time and that is it! I couldn't believe my ears, we've been waiting for this moment for ages it seems! I'm completely giddy at this point! Kim

Vee: I didn't even think to tell you that myself. I had the same thing happen when I got my new computer and it had Outlook Express 6 on it. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to open attachments, then I discovered the default setting you were talking about! Just recently, I learned that I could change the font and color of my email...I guess you learn something new everyday!! Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that I've been enjoying the DeWitt Clinton diary so much, I went to the website you mentioned and bookmarked the page. Kim